St Malo to Nice

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Tuesday 1st October. 10 miles

Wow October already. You would never guess it from the cloudless blue skies and the warm temperatures. (In the esrly twenties). There was an excellent choice for breakfast and even 'yoghurts to go' which surprised me. The posher hotels usually put the yoghurt in glass dishes so you can't 'pinch' one.

We had a little time in the room before setting off as we only had ten miles to go. We had wanted to go further and get the first two climbs done and stay at the Hotel de Canyon but it inconveniently closed for October and November. Bad timing. I had struggled to find any other accommodation much before our next night stop. Anyway it would give us half a rest day!

We had a look round the village before setting off. It was a very pretty little village and we saw the star high in the air above. Also the chapel of Notre Dame perched very high up on a rock. There were also lots of hang gliders in the sky. Rather them than me.

We left the village about eleven ish and the first few miles were a gradual downhill until we reached Lac de Ste-Croix. Wow, stunning emerald water. There was a base camp for hiring kayaks to go on the lake and there were several people having a go. At this point we also got our first view of the Gorges du Verdon.

There was a mile or so cycling round the lake and then the climb started, up and up and round and round to Aiguines. Lots of porsches passed us at one point and they were too close and too fast for my liking.. They were obviously on some kind of rally or organised event.

We stopped just before we got to the village at a view point with picnic benches. There was an amazing view across the valley and the Lake and in the distance we could just see Moustiers-Ste-Marie. We stopped there to eat lunch, some very nice chicken baguettes bought from the Boulangerie. We stayed there well over an hour as we had plenty of time to spare. It was a very busy spot with lots of cars and motor bikes stopping to admire the view. There were a few cyclists as well, but none with panniers.

When we were ready to move on we found the hotel and there was no problem with checking in early. It was the quickest check in we have ever had because he was minding the bar/ restaurant as well. He said "You can leave the bikes there" pointing to a space at the bottom of the stairs and ran upstairs and said "And this is your room". No small talk about breakfast, wifi, the village etc.

Afters showers we wandered round the village which didn't take very long as it was a very tiny, but pretty, place. There was a 'Museum of Wood Turning' which is a common activity in the area due to the abundance of wood around. We had an ice cream and orange juice each and asked if they would be open in the morning as they sold sandwiches. Yes, they opened at seven o'clock. Good news because the nearest supermarket was back in Moustiers-Ste-Marie! We also found a restaurant that would be open. Then it was back to the hotel for puzzles, Face book and looking at tomorrow's route.

In the evening we went to the restaurant in the main village square and had a lovely meal of lasagne. We talked to a Canadian guy on the next table. He was from Toronto and over in France for the rock climbing. Well there were certainly plenty of those around.

Before going out we had booked breakfast for the morning. We had wanted an early start but he said breakfast didn't start till nine o'clock. Eventually he agreed to half past eight.

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